Making Echo for the Environment: Communication Strategies for Conservation of the Water Resources in India - with Reference to Holy Bein Conservation Movement

MAKING ECHO FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES FOR CONSERVATION OF THE WATER RESOURCES IN INDIA - WITH REFERENCE TO HOLY BEIN CONSERVATION MOVEMENT Rubal Kanozia Junior Research Fellow, PhD Scholar Department of Journalism and Mass Communication Guru Nanak Dev University, Regional Campus, Jalandhar, Punjab, India [email protected] INTRODUCTION Ancient Indians developed many ideas, attitudes and practices with regard to their essential relationship with nature. These were really expressions of our primordial awareness of the significance and need for ecological conservation. Such practices naturally became a part of the discipline of the religious rituals. The earth was reverentially called mother earth and goddess. (Kiran Prasad 2009) Same it is found in the case of Holy Bein Conservation Movement. these new social movements are being viewed as alternative development paradigms, distinctly different from government sponsored, centralized and planned development, the mass media, the press in particular, have been giving wide coverage to various social movements with different goals- human rights, women, student, environmental protection, tribal and socially disadvantages groups- to name a few. These newly grass-roots participatory initiatives in rural development aim to strengthen local economic, natural resources & make the people more self reliant.(Kiran Prasad, 2009). Communication is an important element in the material of influence which leads to innovation and modernization of a society. Development initiated by people's participation, which has crystallized into various social movements, has become the focus of intense intention throughout the world.( Kiran Prasad, 2009 ). Communication plays a vital role in shaping up the society. Many Communication approaches are being followed to bring the social change. Where mass media as a magic multiplier generate the awareness in the masses about the various social issues as the Wilbur Schrumn said into his book Mass Media & National Development. In E.M.Rogers into his diffusion of innovation clearly stated that interpersonal channel of the communication bring the changes in the masses & further convert the awareness knowledge into acceptance. Communication is not just an exchange of human ideas and feelings. It is essential precondition to the development of man's world. In fact it is the very basis of the whole edifice of what we call social life. A widely participatory process of directed social change in a society, intended to bring about both social and material advancement for the majority of people through their gaining greater control over their involvement. (Rajbir Singh, 2006) An effective & proper planned communication has persuasive impact upon the people. And work as an agent of socio-economic transformation. India is a rural based country, rural masses has very rare access to the government plans & policies. They do not have the needed information about various development projects, schemes and policies due to which their participation and support cannot be enlisted in implementation of these projects. Undoubtedly, there is need to provide the rural masses with relevant information sources so that they can make rational decisions. (Rajbir Singh, 2006). It is also observed in Holy Bein Conservation Movement none of the government plan has been introduced for the rehabilitation of Holy Bein Conservation Movement. district administration has not executed any action plan for this movement But the efforts of Saint Balbir Singh Seechewal`s are welcomed by the local masses. His efforts have brought the changes; his encouragement for the local community to govern themselves has urge to social change. Here it is worth mentioning that his Holy Bein has religious association with the first Guru of Sikh`s, it is believed that he was enlighten on the bank of this river. But as the time grows this river gets polluted. Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal founder of this movement started campaigning for the cleaning of this. As a result Holy Bein Movement becomes successful because development project was initiated by the people, for the people, of the people. It is become possible only by the systematize use of communication & its various approaches. It is to be implemented in the field of water, natural resources conservation also. In implementation of the proper communication approaches a message, communicator must be very planned, systematic & specific towards the goal. Many social groups, minority & religious institutions can play an important role in people's participation in context of India. Words in the form of message whether written or spoken may influence the lives of billions of people. The information is available through television, radio, newspaper, magazines, films and books etc. In the epoch of digitalization still traditional media is playing a vital role in shaping up society and making the people aware about various social problems. To understands the use of communication strategies for this water conservation movement of India. Researcher has decided to work on this subject. Researcher observed that the various facts about the communication should be understood fully because communication is the basis of mass media from which various other technological revolutions take place. The problem of environment degradation is as old as the evolution of Homo sapiens on this planet. The rapid growth of urbanization and industrialization has created the imbalance. Under the name of development man greedily exploited natural resources indiscriminately to the maximum extent of the nature’s capacity for self-stabilization. Pro-Industry and Pro-Technology oriented lifestyle is causing great income disparities. The unsustainable lifestyles of the rich people are an environmental burden on the others who ironically are least responsible for the changes of climate. The last century, particularly, in later half has seen a lot of growth and economic development in almost all the countries. The methods of economic development, which mankind has followed, are also creating environment problem. With the industrial and technological development, though mankind has improved the economic conditions but it has also altered the natural ecological balance. Industrialization, urbanization and erosion of biodiversity have affected the natural environment adversely. (B.K. Jindal, et al, 1997) The environment problems have grown up at very fast pace. The increased economic development and a rapidly growing population that took the country from 300 million populations in 1947 to more than 1.25 billion populations have put strain on the environment and natural resources of our country. (Rakesh Kumar Singh, 2011) Geographically, India rests on the Indian Plate, which collided with the Eurasian Plate roughly fifty million years ago to form the Himalaya Mountains and the high Tibetan Plateau. Several of the world’s great rivers originate in the Himalayas, including the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Yamuna, And Narmada rivers. But today these have been widely dammed to retain water from the summer monsoon. Although these projects provide power, electricity and irrigation for industrial agriculture, they have been controversial among environmentalists (Roy, 1999). The word ‘environment’ includes all the part of nature necessary for the health and happiness of human beings. Nature constitutes the environment and the ecology of man. Not only the earth’s beauty but the existence of life depends on natural environment. Environment means our whole surroundings-the land, water and the air. It contours all the organisms which consist of air, water, food etc. These elements are very much essential for living beings. All necessities of life for the living and non-living beings are derived from the natural environment. (Christopher Key et al, 2000) Today, the air we breathe, the water we drink, the ground where we grow our food, all contribute to health problems and a lower quality of life. Society is in the grip of environment disaster, what’s being done on a worldwide level, and what you can do in your community. The environmental problems have really affected the quality of human life. But what would be the solution of this? There is need to give the boost to an environment conservation movement which must be supported by the media organizations. Many organizations and activists are continuously working to make them aware the masses. In India, the following movements are the results of their efforts, Chipko Andolan, Naramda Bachao, and Environment Conservation Campaign by Sunder Lal Bahuguna, Holi Bein Conservation Movement by Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal. These were a few famous movement of India. Each movement’s motive is to make the people aware about the basic right of life and liberty (to live in a healthy and safe environment). These movements also propagated the agenda of modern environmentalism among the masses. These infuse the consciousness to protect the natural resources. But how this goal is to be achieved, this also raised the question to draft an effective, persuasive and result oriented campaign to be drafted? It is possible only if the means of communication can be properly utilize for the conservation movement. In this study researcher has tried out at his best possible to understand the effective message strategies by investigating the Holi Black River movement was started by a religious leader Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal fourteen years ago. WATER CONSERVATION AND GOVERNMENT ACTION

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